The Difference Between Goji Berries
and Wolfberries

Some wholesalers will try to sell you wolfberries as goji berries; using the same latin genus name lycium barbarum.

Every plant has a Latin genus. All plants of the same genus species can cross pollinate, they can live wherever other plants of that same genus and species are found and they are indistinguishable.

Overall, goji berries have been recognized to have more nutrients than the wolfberry.

Wolfberries are close cousins to goji berries, but are definitely not the same thing.

The taste of wolfberries is more bitter and the taste of goji berries is sweet.

The Latin name for the wolfberry is Lycium chinense. It is sometimes referred to as Chinese wolfberry, matrimony vine or Chinese boxthorn. Wolfberry species are now grown around the world, primarily in China the wolfberry is actually a substandard goji plant. That they are grown around the world means that they grow on any soil. They have more seeds than goji. They also have the high level of vitamins but their taste is more bitter then that of goji.

Goji berries are a deep red color, contain few seeds and have an exquisitely sweet taste.

With the booming interest in the health benefits of goji berries and goji berry juice, it can be quite confusing to actually find real goji berries or juice from the goji berries of Himalayan quality. The best proof is the Spectral Signature (yellow squiggle with high peaks on a black rectangle). This proves the presence of the Polysaccharides that are in the Himalayan variety, which is cherished the healers since more than 4000 years.

The latin name for the goji berry is Lycium barbarum. It grows in various regions of Asia such as Tibet and Inner Mongolia but it thrives in an area called the "goji belt". There are several provinces of China and areas in Tibet where these vines grow in the wild. In these areas the Lycium barbarum goji berry is highly revered.

Himalayan Goji® Juice contains the polysaccharides of 1 kg goji berries of the Himalayan quality.

Ningxia, China is found in an area that is called "goji belt" and is considered one of the finest places for the goji vines to grow. Every year this region has a two week long festival celebrating the goji berry. This area is situated along the Yellow River in the western part of China. In Ningxia the soil is usually alkaline (pH of 8.2 to 8.6) and very fertile. The temperatures can get very cold and very hot (120 degrees F to -16 degrees F.) It is this type of soil and climate that grows the largest, plumpest, most beautiful goji berries. The fruits are a deep red color, contain few seeds and have an exquisitely sweet taste.

Another area which lays at the foot of the Tianshan mountains (a mountain range nearly equal to the Himalayan mountain peaks) called Xinjiang. The pure snow runoff and harsh temperatures similar to those in Ningxia, also has goji berries of similar quality to those found in Ningxia.

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